Draft-equalizer.



DAN -SGIPIEER., 0F MAIIS'ON, NEBRASKA. E

DRAFT-EQUALIZER.

specific-mn of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

Application led June 24, i909. Serial No. 5Q4,118.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, DAN SGHEER, a citizen of the United States, residing-at Madison, in the county of Madison and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Draft-Equalizer, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to draft equalizers and has for an object to provide a five horse equalizer adapted for attachment to a gang plow and which, when in operation will not orce any of the horses to walk upon the plowed ground.

Another object is to rovde a device of this character which wil be simple in construction, durable and efcient in operation, and which can be manufactured at a minimum amount of cost. I

One 'of the diliicultie's experienced in the usual form of equalizer is that there is a tendency for the parts to be strained and warped out of position, thereby necessitating the equalizers to be periodically Itaken out of commission for repairs. To overcome the above difficulty -my invention comprises a long lever and a short lever, connected togetheradjacent the opposed ends by the yoke which connects the equalizer to the gang plow, the opposed ends of said levers being connected by a short connectinglevernpon which the strainy of the combined pull of the long and short levers is centered, and which is constructed in such; a manner as to meet this strain without-any tendency to buckle or work loose from operative position.

With the above an other objects in view, which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, my invention em braces thenovell features of construction and combination of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, described in the following specification, and pointed o ut in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a five horse draft equalizerconstructed in accordance with `my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan -viewlof ,the same showing the device in o erative position.

In a more detailed escription of my invention in which similar characters of refer! ence designate similar parts inthe views shown, the numeral 3 designate lthe yoke or attachingplate which is pre erably made double, that is, of an upper and' lower U shaped bar secured together 'adjacent the forward ends by bolts orsimilar connectors 4 passing through the bars and through registering openings ormed in a cross plate 5 inserted between these bars. The attaching yoke is secured to a gang plow preferably at a point intermediate the ends and for this purpose openings 6 are formed at this point to receive the bolts carricd'by, theqattaching .member 'of thegplow.

Positioned`on` `the cross plate 5 adjacent the ends of the yoke aile extensionbui's ,7, which are secured to the ibssplate by bolts orv rivets 8. These barslform extensions for the terminals of the attaching yoke, one of the bars being connected at its free end tor a short levei-9 and the other to a long lever 10, and. constitute ulcrums for said lev'ers as well as rigid terminal extensions for the attaching. plate. These extension bars are double, that is, each consists of an upper and lower bar, the upper and Ilower bars of one of the extensions engaging' the shortJ lever in a instance, is effected by placing the bars olie above and one below the short lever, anl passin a pivot bolt l1 through the bars and short ever interposed therebetween. The

pivotal connectiop which, 'in this' upper and lower bars of the other extension engages the long lever in a similar pivotal joint with the exception that the ends of the bars are interposedbetween the upper and 'lower bar of the'long lever and secured therebetween by a pivot bolt l2. lhus 'it is seen that the long and short levers are virtually fulcrumed directly 'on the extended attaching yoke, the advantages obtained by this construction being to give a rigidity and strength to the device not obtainable in the usual form of evener in which'amultiplicity of `pivotcd levers areinterposed Ibetween the main levers and-the attachingirieans.

The long lever l0. is double, that is, is

composed of an upper barx and a lower bar, held in parallel spaded relatibn throughout their entire length, the purp se of this con' structionbeing toy reinforce tiel rvcr against buckling. Theshort lever 9 may be made of a sinodo bar, afs shown, as the strain'vbeing distri uted throughout so .short a distance will not tend to warp thebar out of positionl sof The opposed ends of the long and lshort levers are connected by a short connectinglever 13 which is of double form to meet the strain of the combined pull of both the long and short levens centered upon it. f

The connecting lever comprises an uppe and lower bar at-oiie end engaging the top 4` thereto b ,pivotally connected thereto by a pivot bolt 15.. yThe connecting lever 13 is pivotally connected by a pivot bolt 16 to one end of a fulcrum bar 17, the opposite end of which is vbifurca'tedv and engages the cross plate 5 and is-seeured thereto. by bolts or rivets 18. By this construct-ion, the short double connecting lever is reinforced by the cross plate `5, the/strain of the combined pull of the long and short levers being partly `transmitted through the fulcrum bar to this cross plate, which, being firmly secured between the upper and lower bars of the attaching yoke and extension bars will form a reinforcement or brace for the short connecting lever that will enable the latter to withstand any racking strain to which the parts may be subjected dnring severe conditions of service, as for example, rplowing on stony' ground.

'Secured to the free end of the long lever 10 1s a clevis or similar attaching means 19,

ythe outer end of which is rovided with an 'opening 20 to receive a bo t or similar fastening 21, for attachmentto a two horse evener, as-shown at 22. Secured to the free end of the short lever 9 is a clevis or similar attaching means 23 provided with an opening 24 to receive a bolt 25 for attachment to anthree horse evener, as shown at 26.

1t will be noticed by reference to FigzQ that when this five horse evener is in operative positiom one of the horses will walk in urrow, while the other four horses will walk on the land side or unplowed ground. lt will also be noticed that the device, when attached to a gang plow will be in the nature of a'single jointed bar which will be held in operative position by the attaching yoke at all times, thereby obviating the disadvantage experienced with the usual form of draft equalizer namely,--that of a multilplicity of levers which dragl along the ground between the horses and theplow at the least slack in the pull.

'1n order to prevent the accidental .displacement of the connecting lever a brace bar 27 is positioned below the connecting lever. The brace bar 27 is 'substantially the same in length as the connectingl lever and is provided with openings adjacent its ends for engagement with the extended shanks of the bolts 14. and 15, there being collars or sleeves 2,8,positioned on the Shanks of the bolts above "the brace bar to hold vthe latter spaced from the connecting lever. Stay rods 29 and 30 are secured at one end tothe ably V'secured to the under surface ofthev short and long lever. resneetivelv. as shown.

. grasos From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is thought that the lconstruction and operation ofmy invention will be easily understood without requirino a more extended explanation, it being unkderstood that various. changes 1n the form, proportions and minorV 4lever fulcrumed on the free end of one of said extensions, a long lever fulcrumed on the free end of the other extension, a connectmg lever prvotally connected at'oneend 'to one end of said long lever and pivotally connected at the opposite end to the opposed end of said short lever, and a fulcrum bar pivotally connected at its front end to said connecting lever, and secured at its rear end to the cross plate.

2. The combination with a two horse and three horse draft evener, of a draft equalizer having an attaching member provided with openings intermediate the ends to' engage the attaching bolts of a plow, spaced extension bars extending forwardly from the terminals of said attaching member, a short lever fulcrumed on one of said extension bars and lhaving terminal means for attachment to said three horse evener, a long lever fulcrumed on the other of said extension bars and having terminal means for rattachment to -said two horse evener, afconnecting lever pivotally connected at its opposite ends tothe opposed ends of said long and short levers, a fulcrum bar pivotally connected at one end to said connecting lever' and terminating at the other in a bifurcated end, a cross plate connecting the opposed ends of said attaching member and extension bars andengaging the bifurcated end of said fulcrum bar, whereby to brace said extension bars and reinfoi said connecting lever.

3; The combination with a two horse and three horse draft evener of a draft equalizer4 liavinor a securing member comprising a yoke L, aving` spaced terminal branches, a crossv plate connecting the ends of said branches, spaced extension bars connected at one end to said cross plate adjacent the ends of said terminal branches, a short lever fulcrumed on the free end of one of said extension bars and being terminally adapted for connection to said three horse evener, a long lever fulcrumed on the free end of the other of said extension bars and being terminally adapted for connection to lsaid tw'ohorse evener, a connecting lever pivotally Iattached to the opposed ends of said long and short levers, a fulcrum bar pivotally connected at one end to sad eonneeting' vmy own, I have hereto aflxed my signature lever and at the other .engaging said cross in the presence of two Witnesses.

' sion bars, whereby to brace Said connecting.

plate intermediatev the ends of said'exteny DAN SCHEER 5 lever and to positively secure the same to A\ ?Vit,nesse\s:`

said attaching member. l H. F RIGHE, Jr., In testimony that I' claim the foregoing as I CHAs. FEILING. 

